Escalator



March 5, 1935. w RUBlN l 1,993,309

l EscALAToR I 4 l' a' l l March 5, 1935.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 5, 1 935 1,993,309 i UNITEDSTATES PATENTOFFICE ESCALATOR William Rubin, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application March 24, 1934, Serial No. 717,219

4 Claims. (Cl. IS7-12) This invention relates to improvements in ele-IFigure 10 is a view in side elevation of the esvating mechanisms andpertains particularly to calator chair per se; an improved escalator, lFigure ll is a detail sectional view illustrat- The primary object ofthe present invention ing the manner in which the primary circuit 5 isto provide a new and'novel type of escalator is opened. y 5

which is particularly designed for use in a home Referring to thedrawings wherein like nualthough, it is to be understood, that it is notmerals of reference designate corresponding to be conned to such use.parts throughout the several views, the device Another object of theinvention is to provide embodying the present invention is shown in anescalator of simple design and capable of be- Figure 1 in side elevationand in operative pol0 ing operated conveniently by the person ridingsition on'a flight of stairs over which itis adaptthereon, either-whilethe person is actually in ed to be placed, the stairs being indicatedgenthe process o1 being carried by the device orprior erally by thenumeral l. While the present deto the starting of the sa'me. vice may bedisposed in a building in a location A further object of the inventionis to provide particularly designed t0 receive it, it iS e150 15 animproved form of escalator having means adapted to be placed in alreadyconstructed whereby a person may be carried thereon while buildings overthe steps of a regularly conin seated position and having meansassociated structed stairway, in which latter-position it is therewithwhereby the device will be automatihere illustrated.

cally stopped when the carrier thereof has The device comprises abaseboard or wall 2 20 reached the end o f the device toward which italong the longitudinal edges of which are disis traveling. y posed theupstanding side walls 3. At the ends The invention will be bestunderstood from a of the side walls are upstanding posts 4 whichconsideration of the following detailed descripare connected at theirtops by the rails 5.

tion taken in connection with the accompany- Disposed between the walls3 and in spaced 25 ing drawings forming part of this specication,relation therewith are upper and lower pairs of with the understanding,however, that the inbeams indicated by the numerals 6 and 7, thatvention is not conned to any strict conformity is, each beam of theupper pair is indicated by with the showing of the drawings but may bethe numeral 6, while each one of the lower pair changed or modified solong as such changes or is indicated by the numeral 7. The beams oi.' 30modiilcations mark no material departure from each pair are in spacedparallel relation and the the salient features of the invention asexpressed two pairs of beams are disposed one above and in in theappended claims. spaced relation with the other, suitable end walls Inthe drawings: 8 to which the beams are joined, serving to main- Figure 1is a view partly in longitudinal sectain this relation. These walls alsoconnect the 35 tion and partly in side elevation of the escalator endsof the side walls 3. There is thus formed,

embodying the present invention; when viewing the structure in crosssection, the Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially parallelside spaces or alleys indicated by the upon the line 2 2 of Figure 1;numerals 9 and the transverse or horizontal area Figure 3 is a view inrear elevation of the power 10 which connects these alleys. 40 mechanismby which the escalator is operated: The beams 6 of the upper pair areconnected Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figby the top wall orplate 11 which extends the full ure 1; length of the beams between theend walls 8. Figure 5 is a sectional view taken substantially Extendingtransversely of and between the D011 the line 5-5 0f Figure 2; upper andlower pairsof beams`6 and '7 are the 45 Figure 6 is a view in plan ofthe chair carrytransversely extending bolsters 12 of a truck ing truck,the chair having been removed therestructure which is indicatedgenerally by the from; numeral 13. Each of these holsters at each endFigure 7 is a view in front elevation of one 0f is secured to a castor14, the wheel of which rests two magnetic switches forming a part of theand runs upon the bottom 2 of the structure. 50 electrical system 0f thedevice; The holsters 12 are connected intermediate their Figure 8 is aview in side elevation of the magends by the longitudinal beam 15, whichis disnetic switch; l posed beneath the same and upon the top of theFigure 9 is a diagram of'- the electrical system bolsters is a plate 16which is located between 5.5 for the escalator; the beams 6 oi' theupper pair. 55

Secured to the tops ofthe bolsters 12 at the end s thereof 'andextending upwardly in the alleys 9 are the four legs of a chair or seatwhich is indicated 'as a whole by the numeral 17, the legs beingindicated by the numerals 18 while the bottom of the seat is indicatedby the numeral 19 and thearms'by the numeral 20. The legs at one side orat the iront of the seat have attached thereto brackets 21 which extendforwardly and downwardly over the adjacent side wall 3 and are connectedby a step 22 upon which the feet of the occupant of the chair may beplaced.

Connected with the upper end oi the central beam of the chair truck l3,is one end oi.' a cable or rope 23 which passes upwardly to theupper'end of the structure to engage about a pulley wheel 24 which ismounted in a suitable manner at the central part oi the device. 'Ihiscable or rope then passes back to the lower end of the device betweenthe beams 7 and under the truck to a drum 25 to which it is attached andabout which a portion of'it is wound. The drum 25 is mounted upon ashaft 26 which is suitably supported upon a base structure 27 at thelower end of the escalator and this shaft is connected by gears 28 and29 with a suitable speed reduction mechanism, the encasing housing forwhich is indicated by the numeral 30. No attempt has been made toillustrate the speed reducing mechanism as such mechanisms are wellknown, and any suitable type of the same may be employed for carryingout the operation of the'devicev embodying this invention. Power istransmitted through the mechanism 30,'the gears 28 and 29, to the drum25 by an electric motor 31, which is mounted upon the base structure 27in the manner illustrated. Adjacent the motor or at any other suitablepoint, an instrument board 32 is located on which are mounted a stepdowntransformer 33 which receives current from a power line 34, through afuse block 35, connection being made with the fuse block and the powerline through the terminal posts 36. Also mounted on this board or panel32 are two electromagnetically operated switches which are indicatedgenerallyby the numerals 37 and 38. The detailed construction of theseswitches is hereinafter described.

Extending longitudinally of the escalator strucvture and passing betweenthe wall 11 and the plate 16 and connected at their ends with the walls8 so as to be maintained in taut condition are three current conductingcables which are indicated by the numerals 39, 40 and 41. At the upperend of the escalator structure is fixed to a terminal post 42, a bowedspring contact 43 which rests against one of the cables, as for example,the cable 39. At the opposite end of the escalator is xed a terminalpost 44 to which a similar bowed spring contact 45 is iixed, which restsupon another current conducting cable such as the cable 4l. 'I'he thirdcable 40 is disposed between the cables 39 and 41 and in spaced relationtherewith. This is the power cable which, when the switches are closed,carries current to the controlling electro-magnets.

Carried upon the plate 16 of the truck 13 are three metal contactsleeves which are indicated by the numerals 48, 49 and 50, and thesesleeves are slidably mounted respectively upon the cables 39, 40 and 41so as to form electrical pick-up means for conducting electric currentvfrom the cable 40 to and from the two switches 5l and 52. 'I'he switch51 is electrically connected with the current pick-up sleeve 50 by thewire 53, and

theV switch 52 is connected with the sleeve 48 by the wire 54, and wheneither of these switches is closed, it is connectedby the wire 55 withthe central sleeve 49.

In addition to the three current pick-up sleeves carried by the truckplate 16, there are mounted on this plate two sleeves formed ofinsulation material, each ofwhich is indicated by the numeral 56. One ofthese sleeves surrounds the current conducting cable 39 while the othersurrounds the cable 41, and each sleeve has an obliquely angled end 57which is directed toward the spring contact which is in engagement with'the cable passing therethrough. This obliquely angled end of each sleeveserves as a wedge when the sleeve has been moved to the proper positionon its cable, to lift the adjacent spring contact so as to break theelectrical connection of the same with the cable as will be hereinafterdescribed.

In the electrical system illustrated, there is an electric motor. This'is a Warner reversible motor which in actual practice gives aboutthreeeighths of a horse power. There are also two electro-magnetsconnected in an interrupted circuit with the switches 68 and 69 and 51and 52 aff 4will belater more fully explained. These magnets operatemagnetic switches which in turn connect a source of current with theWarner electric motor to cause the motor to rotate in one direction orthe other. Thus generally speaking, when it is desired to shift thesliding chair 17 upward on the escalator, the switch 68 is closed or ifa party is in the chair and half way between the top and bottom andwishes to go to the top, the switch 52 is closed. If on the other hand,the carriage or chair is at the top of the escalator and the party is atthe lower end thereof and wishes to bring the escalator down, he closesswitch 69 or if he is on the chair, he closes switch 5l and this causesthe actuation of the proper electro-magnet which in turn causes thepassage of electric current through the motor to draw the chairdownward.

Means are also provided for breaking the circuit through the motorautomatically when the chair has reached its uppermost position or whenit has reached its lowermost position.

It will thus be seen that one circuit includes the switch 69, the switch51, the contact finger 45 and one of the electro-magnets while the othercircuit includes the other electro-magnet and the switches 69, 51 andthe contact nger 43 and that when either of the switches 68 or 52 isclosed, the car or seat will move upward; that When either of theswitches 69 or 5l is closed, the car or seat will move downward and thatwhen the car or seat has practically reached its uppermost position, theinsulating sleeve 56 will wedge out contact 43 and break the circuitthrough the electro-magnet and thus break the circuit through the motorand when on the contrary the car is moving downward, the sleeve 56 willforce the finger 45 outward and break the circuit through the othermagnet.

The two electro-magnets are designated 58 and 59 and each has the core60. Each of these electro-magnets is associated with a switch 37 or 38which, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, includes the lever 61 of insulatingmaterial, an armature 62 carried thereby and coacting with the core 60.Each lever 61 carries upon it at one end a metallic bridge 63 while atthe other end are mounted two metallic arms 64 and 65 which are,

of course, insulated from each other. Spaced terminal posts 66 on eachof the switches are electrically connected by the bridging plate 63 whenthe corresponding magnet 60 is deenerf gized and a similar pair of posts67 is adapted to be engaged by the two arms 64 or 65, these arms .beingelectrically connected with fixed terminals 67 located on the baseportion of the switch. At the upper and lower ends of the escalator arethe manually operable switches 68 and 69 previously referred to, eachswitch, when closed, connecting the middle cable 40 with one of thelateral cables 39 or 41, the contacts with which these switches connectbeing designated 70 and havingthe ends of cable 40 connected therewith.

From the transformer 33 extends a-feed wire 71 which connects with thecoil of the electromagnet 58, the wire 71 after it leaves thiselectro-magnet engaging the post 42 of the contact nger 43. Theelectro-magnet 59 is connected by a like wire 72 to the transformer 33and this wire 72 extends from -the electro-magnet 59 to the post 44 ofthe contact finger 45.

Normally the switches 37 and 38 are in the position shown in Figure 8,this being .the position also shown in Figure 9 and the coils 74 and 75of the motor are in an interrupted circuit with a source of power.

Assuming that the car is lowered and a person at the upper end of theescalator wishes to move the car upward to the landing, the switch 68 isclosed against the action of the spring. The cable 40 is connected by awire 76 to the transformer. When the switch 68 is closed, current,therefore, flows upward through the cable 40 to the switch 68, thence tocontact 70, down cable 39 until it reaches the finger 43, then by wire71 to the electro-magnet 58 of switch 37, the wire 71, after it leavesthe magnet 58 going back to the transformer. When the electro-magnet 58is energized, the contact arms 64 and 65 engage with the contacts 67 andcomplete a circuit through the two coils of the motor as follows:-

Current passes from the transformer to post 36, thence by wire 77 to arm65 of switch 37, to the corresponding contact 67, thence to wire 78, tothe post 67 of switch 38. As this switch 38 is open, no current passesthrough the switch 38 but current passes on wire 78 to one coil 74 ofthe motor, thence by wire 79 to wire 80. This wire connects one of thecontacts 66 of the switch 38 with one of the contacts 66 of the otherswitch 37. Hence as the switch 37 has its bridge 63 out of engagementwith contact 66, the current from coil 74 will pass to the contact 66 ofswitch 38 across the bridge 63 thereof to wires 80 and 8l and thence tocoil 75 of the motor and from coil 75 current passes by wire 82 toswitch arm 64, thence by wire 83 to one of the posts 36 on the fuseblock and thence back to the transformer.

When the carriage moves upward to the upper end of the escalator, thewedge 56, as shown in Figure 11, breaks the circuit through wire 71 tothe magnet 58, deenergizing this magnet and the motor controllingswitch, therefore, returns to its initial position and, of course, thecarriage stops.

The motor used is one in which it is necessary to reverse one of thefield coils 75 or 74 in order to reverse the motor. When one of themagnets 58 or 59 is energized and the appropriate switch 37 or 38 isthrown, the contact to the ates to open the switch on that side leavingthe field coils of the motor connected in the reverse direction.

If the carriage is at the top of the escalator and it is desired to moveit downward, then the switch 69 is closed, thus operating the magnet 59,throwing the switch 58 in a position to connect the transformer with thecoll 75 and then in a reverse direction through coil 74. The cardescends and when it has reached its lowermost position, the insulatingswitch 66 will break the circuit through spring contact 45 and the carwill stop.

It will be understood that no matter where the car is stopped on theescalator, it can be moved toits fully lowered position or its fullyraised position by operating'these switches 69 or 68.

If a person is on the carriage 17, midway bei tween the. top and bottomof the escalator and wishes to-go to the top, he closes switch 52.Current then passes from the feed wire 76 to the cable 40, from thecontact sleeve 49 tothe switch 52 and to sleeve 48, then up cable 39 tothe contact finger 43, thence to magnet 59, and thence back to thesource of power, thus shifting the switch 37 and causing the motor tooperate to raise the escalator, the escalator stopping automaticallywhen the insulating wedge 56 strikes the contact finger '43 and raisesit from the cable 39. If the person wishes to move the carriagedownward, he operates switch 51, taking current from the cable40,'transmitting it to the contact sleeve 50, thence to the cable 41 andthence by spring contact 45 to magnet 59, operating the switch 38 andthus connecting the motor with the source of power. The. car then movesdownward until the insulating switch 56 associated with sleeve 50 opensthe spring contact 45.

It will be seen that I have provided an escalator which is particularlycheap to manufacture and' install and which is very easy to operate. Theescalator because of the fact that the carriage may be readily shiftedup or down from any middle position by a person either at the headof theescalator or vat the foot thereof or sitting on the carriage isparticularly comfortable and convenient. The escalator has been put inuse and found to be noiseless and in any installed escalator, there isno necessity of destroying walls or stairs. It takes up very little roomand it can be readily taken down and moved from house to house at asmall cost.

While I have illustrated certain details of construction and a certainparticular arrangement of parts, I wish it to be understood that variousminor changes might be made'in the details of construction withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed isz- 1. In an elevating structure of the characterdescribed, an inclined base, a carrier mounted for movementlongitudinally on said base, electric current conducting cablesextending longitudinally of the base, current pick-up devices carried bythe carrier and connected with said cables, a reversible electric motor,a drum driven unwound from the drum to move the carrier, an

' disposed at an inclination, a truck movable longitudinally on the basestructure, a seat carried by the truck, a cable drum at one end of thestructure, a pulley at the opposite end of the structure. a cableconnected at one end with the drum and extending longitudinally of thestructure over said pulley and having its other end connected with thetruck, an electric motor connected with said drum, a power circuithaving said motor therein, three current carrying wires extendinglongitudinally oi the structure, a primary circuit having one of saidwires permanently connected therein, switching lmeans carried by theseat structure for selectively coupling the other wires in the primarycircuit, electric pick-up means carried by the truck and connected withsaid wires, an electromagnetic switch controlling said motor circuit andincluding an electromagnet, and an armature, said armature effecting theopening or closing of the motor circuit, and said electromagnet beingconnected in the primary circuit.

3. An elevator of the character described, comprising an elongated basestructure designed to be disposed at an inclination, a truckmovablelongitudinally on the base structure, a seat carried by thetruck, a cable drum at one end of the structure, a pulley at theopposite end of the structure, a cable connected at one end with thedrum and extending longitudinally of the structure over said pulley andhaving its other end connected with the truck, an electric motorconnected with said drum, a power circuit having said motor therein,three current carrying wires extending longitudinally of the structure,a primary circuit having one of said wires pennanently connected threin, switching means carried by the seat st cture for selectivelycoupling the other wires in the-primary circuit, electric pick-up meanscarried by the truck and connected with said wires, an electromagneticswitch controlling said motor circuit and including an electromagnet andan armature, said armature eil'ecting the opening or closing of themotor circuit, said electromagnet being 'connected in the primarycircuit, a pair of spring contacts electrically connecting with the.primary circuits those wires which are controlled by the rst mentionedswitches, and elements carried by the truck for shifting said springcontacts at the' end of the path of movement of the truck.

4. In an escalator, an inclined track, a carriage movable over thetrack, a reversible electric motor, three bare conductors extendingparallel with the track, one of the conductors being connected to asource of power, the second conductor being an up conductor, and thethird conductor being a donn conductor, sliding contacts on thecarriage, eachengaging with one of said conductors, switches on thecarriage to electrically connect the contact on the power conductor toeither one or the other contacts, a switch at the upper end oftheescalator whereby to connect the power conductor with the up conductor,a switch at the lower end of the escalator to connect the powerconductor with the down conductor, two electrically operated controllingswitches acting when operated to pass current through the motor, one inone direction and the other in an opposite direction, electrical meansacting to throw one of said controlling switches in to operation whenthe up conductor is connected to the power conductor, electrical meansacting to throw the other of saidl controlling switches into operativeposition when the down conductor is connected to the power conductor,and means carried by the carriage for breaking the previouslyestablished circuit when the'carriage arrives either at the limit of itsupward movement or of its downward movement.

' WILLIAM RUBIN.

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